Alone Again

Chapter Seven: Backstories

"WHAT?" I gasped and leaned back. That couldn't possible be true... could it? "This... this doesn't make any sense. How is that possible?" Alex sighed.
"Your parents must have never told you. They're... what, forty something now? They had Kitty when they were about twenty five. They're fifteen now, you're..." Alex looked at me curiously.
"I'm 13, so there's no way I wouldn't know that I had a sibling so close in age." I stared at the gray screens, the light illuminating Alex and Lana's grave faces. Kitty was slowly backing away from my parents.
"You might not remember, but after you were born, your mom went on a two year trip for some college thing, since she never finished school. She took Kitty, and... Kitty actually ended up getting kidnapped by a gang. They were only three, and we're still not sure why they were kidnapped, but your mom returned home after that and apparently pretended nothing happened. They didn't even call the police." Lana looked to the floor sadly. Alex put a hand on her shoulder. I shook my head.
"No, that's not what happened." Pieces of a puzzle started to come together in my head. Lana looked up.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"I can't remember the story exactly, but... I do remember having a sibling. It's really, really blurry but I remember it. I..." an image, long forgotten, flooded back into my head. Memories came back like a dam had broken. My mom screaming late at night. Ambulances red light making my room glow a sinister crimson. I remember looking up at my dad, his hair a mess and papers strewn across his desk. He looked at me and smiled.
"I hope you forget all of this," he said fondly. "You don't need this in your life. We don't either."
"Amanda? Are you okay?" I must have looked pretty shocked because Alex grabbed my shoulders and gently shook me. "Amanda!"
"Yeah, yeah, sorry. I... my mom never went on a trip. She finished college early, actually. I remember... ambulances came to our house constantly. Kitty must have had a really bad sickness... I remember my dad saying they didn't need this. I think Kitty was sick too much, they didn't have the money to keep sending them to the hospital and so... we had to give Kitty up for adoption. They never got kidnapped."
I looked up and Alex gently removed their hands from my shoulders and stood, slowly. Lana's mouth was open in shock, as she stared at the computer screens. They both seemed equally shocked. I was about to say something, try to break the ice when Lana burst into a run, and sprinted down the hall, up the ladder and into the lounge in the actual house part, where Kitty was. I was getting up to stop her when Alex put a hand on my chest.
"Don't. Lana... she needs to be able to help Kitty. I'll tell you the story later." Alex turned back to the screens, and I turned with them.
"Is there any sound on this thing?" I asked quietly, concerned that Alex's calm composure was faked and they might snap on me, but instead they just nodded and flipped a switch. Muffled audio blared from two speakers in the corners of the room. I could hear the trapdoor nearly snap in half as Lana charged up the ladder and into the lounge. She ran up to Kitty's parents.
"How could you?!" She screamed. "Did you really leave this amazing, brilliant, pure little child? Just like that? Because they were sick sometimes!" Kitty looked at Lana in surprise. Tears streamed down Lana's face, her glasses fogging up.
"H... how did you..." my mom looked just as surprised, but my dad was almost calm.
"Amy, did you tell anyone?" He turned to my mom, holding her hand gently.
"No, I... I never did!" She didn't look surprised anymore. She looked scared. "Did... did you?"
"No, never. I don't think I even mentioned it to Isaiah..." those words stung. My birth name. My "dead name". I didn't wanna be linked to that name anymore.
"So you DID leave them! You didn't expect them to live, did you?" Lana's face turned red in anger.
"Who is them? We only have two children and they aren't both here!" My mother practically shrieked.
"Kitty is them! Pronouns aside, I can't believe you! You should never have had children! You gave Kitty away cause they were sick, hoping or at least expecting they would die, and then you kick out your only other child into the streets of NEW YORK because she was trans? How dare you! If we hadn't found both of them, your only children would be DEAD and ABANDONED. You... HORRIBLE PEOPLE! Thats probably child abuse of some sort! Get out of my house! Just seeing your face, knowing the crimes you've committed and the hate you've spread, the anger, the sadness, all of it... it makes me sick! Go! Go away! They don't need you! They've found a new, accepting, happy family with us. You're useless to them! Dead, unhappy memories of their pasts. After all you've done, they don't need you in their lives! GO!" The entire speech, Lana had been slowly backing my parents out of the house. They were now completely out the door, and Lana slammed it on their faces, locking the door with a click. I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed. Lana seemed so sweet and innocent, it was hard to believe she could go on angry rampages like that. The entire thing was really harsh... though I knew my parents deserved it. They had abandoned both of us for things we couldn't help. They weren't fit to be parents. We may have their blood, but we aren't apart of their family anymore. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alex smiling, their eyes glistening in the light. Kitty ran up to Lana and hugged her, Lana still crying. I was happy, but in the back of my mind I knew that they would be back. I didn't want that to happen, but I decided to enjoy the moment. I leaned back in my chair and smiled at the ceiling.

Even if they did come back... they weren't my family anymore. They couldn't claim me.

I was free.